Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople, who was one of the framers of the 1987 Constitution, today said that Section 18, Article VII, which was cited as the basis of the President’s Declaration of a State of Rebellion, was drafted for situations such as the one currently facing the Philippine Government.

“The whole Constitution was crafted with the welfare of the people and the powers of the executive to protect the people in mind.  We also knew that we had to balance the executive’s power with the inalienable personal liberties of the people,” Secretary Ople said.

He added that the Constitution provides adequate safeguards to prevent the abuse of such powers, saying “the Constitution mandates that such declarations will be subject to review by Congress and that the President may not challenge the results of such a review.”

“The declaration of a state of rebellion under the current circumstances is a proper exercise of the President’s powers under the Constitution and a sound exercise of the President’s judgment as Commander in Chief,” the Secretary said.

“While the declaration of a state of rebellion applies to the entire country as may be necessary, it has been issued to address in particular the situation in Makati.

“While I reiterate our hope that this matter will be resolved in a peaceful manner, the Government is well within its powers to resort to reasonable force to suppress this rebellion,” the Secretary said. END.